Jesse Legé, Ed Poullard and Charlie Terr are confirmed to be performing as a Cajun trio at the fest this summer, so everyone is guaranteed to be met with some bonafide Louisiana tunes.

Legé and Poullard have accurately been called “living legends of authentic Louisiana Cajun and Creole music”.  Both musicians were raised surrounded by Cajun Music in Louisiana and Eastern Texas, hearing the music long before they tried to play it themselves.  Legé has won numerous Cajun French Music Association awards, including Accordion Player and Male Vocalist of the Year.  Poullard is as authentic as it gets, coming from a long line of Creole musicians. He even started building accordions on his own in 2000.  Charlie Terr is an accomplished Cajun accordionist, guitar, fiddle and bass player who leads the Chicago Cajun Aces band.  By profession he is a Chicago piano tuner and rebuilder, but became fascinated with Cajun music in the 70s and has been going back and forth to Louisiana ever since.

Poullard and Legé represent distinct but related musical traditions.  Cajuns are descended from the Acadians who came to Louisiana from French-speaking Canada, bringing their fiddle-based music and later adopting the German accordion into this dance paced music.  The Creoles or black southwest Louisianans with French heritage, played similar music with differences that are likely to be described in scheduled workshops and music jams led by these two musicians at the Sugar Maple festival.

We are thrilled to welcome these artists for a joint performance filled with a deep Cajun passion.

Jesse Legé, Ed Poullard and Charlie Terr